The romance of the rails has been heavily documented in books and movies. But in reality, they're forever entwined with American history and crucial to our economy even today.

It's remarkable in this modern age that we remain reliant on a system developed in the 1800s whose basic premise is unchanged: moving products great distances on a set of steel rails. Digital and computer technology has enhanced the process, but the nucleus of the original idea remains.

"The perception is that trains are on their last legs and is an old-fashioned method of transportation and shipping," says Rick Mills, director of the South Dakota State Railroad Museum in Hill City.

In reality, America is rail-dependent, Mills says, and railroads are essential to South Dakota's economy.

Efforts to gain a railroad for Sioux Falls began in 1873 when the town was being settled and the population was 593, according to "Sioux Falls, South Dakota, A Pictorial History," by Gary D. Olson and Erik L. Olson.

An economic depression and a plague of grasshoppers squelched the movement, but by 1878 the depression eased, grasshoppers vanished and a Dakota boom was in full swing with a wave homesteaders willing to brave the frontier.

Sioux Falls needed a railroad to become a regional distribution center — a place where farmers could transport grain and livestock and products could be delivered to small towns.

Throughout the 1880s, Sioux Falls gained about 1,000 residents a year — growth directly related to the railroad.

Even though the railroad helped settle the region and brought economic development to town, by the 1900s and especially the end of the first World War in 1918, residents turned their attention away from trains and railroads and began a love affair with the automobile that remains today.

There aren't as many trains now, Mills admits, but greater amounts of products are being shipped at one time.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, the major line in Sioux Falls, ships crude oil, construction products, grain, chemicals, plastics, fertilizers and minerals over 32,000 miles of tracks in 28 states and two Canadian provinces.

Two to five BNSF trains pass through Sioux Falls in a 24-hour period, says company spokeswoman Amy McBeth. Freight here primarily consists of grain, ethanol and lumber products.

That tallies up to about 100 cars a day or 500 cars a week for BNSF, says Joshua Peterson, principal engineer with the city.

The Dakota & Iowa Railroad also has about 100 cars a day passing through town. The two railroads add up to about 200 cars a day, but "these figures can vary up or down by the day and season," Peterson says.

"The railroad companies provide a valuable service to businesses in the area. These businesses rely on rail services to deliver material to them and products to their customers," Peterson says.

"It's an industry that's evolved over the years, but it's still a valuable service that provides cost-effective transportation for those businesses," he says.

"We're seeing more tonnage moving on the rails than almost during World War II," Mills says. "We are moving it in bigger and longer trains."

For example, "one coal train from Wyoming averages 135 cars per train, with 110 tons of coal per car."

Almost everything on store shelves has spent some time on a train, Mills says. "You can't go into a Walmart without picking something up that hasn't been moved on a train at some point."

Railroad companies own the rail cars, but the tracks are owned by the state, Mills says. Private companies lease and maintain the rails at no cost to the taxpayers. Using rails to ship products saves wear and tear on the highways, which taxpayers do support.

America has perfected rail transportation and product movement and is recognized worldwide for its expertise, Mills says. "Locomotives are manufactured here and exported to China and Australia. We are the leader in the world with that technology."

The railroad still has the power to breathe life into small towns.

South Dakota is rehabbing some of its rail system in an effort to boost the state's economy. This year, the Legislature approved $7.2 million to rebuild aging track running west of Chamberlain with the hopes that the good fortune that happened in Kimball will be repeated in other parts of the state.

Kimball, a town of 700-plus two hours west of Sioux Falls, saw a grain elevator built nearby two years ago, relying on a newly refurbished rail spur to move grain.

That part of the rail line had been inactive for 15 years, according to a previous Argus Leader story.

Not only can farmers save on trucking costs and sink that money back into the state's economy, but the elevator also employs about 15 people, says Kimball mayor Wayne Tupper.

Consequently, the town is riding a wave of development. The area's economy has strengthened and made the town attractive to builders.

"Anytime you provide more jobs so that people can stay in the community, it's a big plus," Tupper says.

As a result of the refurbished railroad, "an ag company that sells herbicides and pesticides built just south of the elevator," Tupper says. And "a new housing development is going up on the west side of town."

"We're building a new doctor's office, that's been an offshoot of this," he adds. "And an old truck stop that's been closed for many years has been sold."

The town is now planning for the future.

"We're building infrastructure," Tupper says. "We feel pretty confident in the next year or two we will be drawing in new businesses."

"It's been wonderful."

Reach reporter Dorene Weinstein at 331-2315.

Did you know?

• All train whistles have specific meanings.

• It takes a quarter-mile for a train to stop when it's going up to speed.

• Unit trains are so called because they are made up of 110 to 120 of the same type of car. If they are carrying grain, they can hold 100 tons in each car.

• Early trains didn't have air brakes; workers had to climb to the top of the car and turn the brake at the signal of the engineer.

• In the beginning, rails were about 40 feet long, meaning there was a joint every 40 feet, creating a weak spot. Today, all the track is ribbon rail, done in quarter-mile sections with a joint every quarter-mile.

• Modern locomotives are equipped with GPS systems so companies know where the product is at any given time.